Chapter 13 of Notwithstanding is here in full — 144 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XIII
Chapter 13 of Notwithstanding is here in full — 144 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"O Life, how naked and how hard when known! Life said, As thou hast carved me, such am I." GEORGE MEREDITH. Janey lit her bedroom candle with a hand that trembled a little, and in her turn went slowly upstairs. She could hear the clatter of knives and forks in the dining-room, and Harry's vacant laugh, and Nurse's sharp voice.
Chapter 13 of Notwithstanding is here in full — 144 sentences across 29 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/28 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
made for or formed by carving (“carven” is archaic or literary)
From this reading “Life said, As thou hast carved me, such am I."”
a rattling noise (often produced by rapid movement)
From this reading “She could hear the clatter of knives and forks in the dining-room, and Harry's vacant laugh, and Nurse's sharp voice.”
plural of “fork” — cutlery used for serving and eating food
From this reading “She could hear the clatter of knives and forks in the dining-room, and Harry's vacant laugh, and Nurse's sharp voice.”
plural of “knife” — edge tool used as a cutting instrument; has a pointed blade with a sharp edge and a handle
From this reading “She could hear the clatter of knives and forks in the dining-room, and Harry's vacant laugh, and Nurse's sharp voice.”
United States civil rights leader whose college registration caused riots in traditionally segregated Mississippi (born in 1933)
From this reading “GEORGE MEREDITH.”
completely unclothed
From this reading “"O Life, how naked and how hard when known!”
possessive form of “nurse” — one skilled in caring for young children or the sick (usually under the supervision of a physician)
From this reading “She could hear the clatter of knives and forks in the dining-room, and Harry's vacant laugh, and Nurse's sharp voice.”
void of intelligence or thought
From this reading “She could hear the clatter of knives and forks in the dining-room, and Harry's vacant laugh, and Nurse's sharp voice.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
In this reading “She could hear the clatter of knives and forks in the dining-room, and Harry's vacant laugh, and Nurse's sharp voice.”
In this reading “She could hear the clatter of knives and forks in the dining-room, and Harry's vacant laugh, and Nurse's sharp voice.”
In this reading “Janey lit her bedroom candle with a hand that trembled a little, and in her turn went slowly upstairs.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading Janey lit her bedroom candle with a hand that trembled a little, and in her turn went slowly upstairs.
the form of “be” used with “I”
From this reading Life said, As thou hast carved me, such am I."
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "O Life, how naked and how hard when known!
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Life said, As thou hast carved me, such am I."
a room used primarily for sleeping
From this reading Janey lit her bedroom candle with a hand that trembled a little, and in her turn went slowly upstairs.
stick of wax with a wick in the middle
From this reading Janey lit her bedroom candle with a hand that trembled a little, and in her turn went slowly upstairs.
made for or formed by carving (“carven” is archaic or literary)
From this reading Life said, As thou hast carved me, such am I."
a rattling noise (often produced by rapid movement)
From this reading She could hear the clatter of knives and forks in the dining-room, and Harry's vacant laugh, and Nurse's sharp voice.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading She could hear the clatter of knives and forks in the dining-room, and Harry's vacant laugh, and Nurse's sharp voice.
a room used for dining
From this reading She could hear the clatter of knives and forks in the dining-room, and Harry's vacant laugh, and Nurse's sharp voice.
plural of “fork” — cutlery used for serving and eating food
From this reading She could hear the clatter of knives and forks in the dining-room, and Harry's vacant laugh, and Nurse's sharp voice.
Christian martyr; patron saint of England; hero of the legend of Saint George and the Dragon in which he slew a dragon and saved a princess (?-303)
From this reading GEORGE MEREDITH.
the (prehensile) extremity of the superior limb
From this reading Janey lit her bedroom candle with a hand that trembled a little, and in her turn went slowly upstairs.
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
From this reading "O Life, how naked and how hard when known!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading She could hear the clatter of knives and forks in the dining-room, and Harry's vacant laugh, and Nurse's sharp voice.
an old form of “have”, used with “thou”
From this reading Life said, As thou hast carved me, such am I."
perceive (sound) via the auditory sense
From this reading She could hear the clatter of knives and forks in the dining-room, and Harry's vacant laugh, and Nurse's sharp voice.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Janey lit her bedroom candle with a hand that trembled a little, and in her turn went slowly upstairs.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "O Life, how naked and how hard when known!
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Life said, As thou hast carved me, such am I."
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Janey lit her bedroom candle with a hand that trembled a little, and in her turn went slowly upstairs.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Janey lit her bedroom candle with a hand that trembled a little, and in her turn went slowly upstairs.
plural of “knife” — edge tool used as a cutting instrument; has a pointed blade with a sharp edge and a handle
From this reading She could hear the clatter of knives and forks in the dining-room, and Harry's vacant laugh, and Nurse's sharp voice.
apprehended with certainty
From this reading "O Life, how naked and how hard when known!
the sound of laughing
From this reading She could hear the clatter of knives and forks in the dining-room, and Harry's vacant laugh, and Nurse's sharp voice.
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading "O Life, how naked and how hard when known!
provided with artificial light
From this reading Janey lit her bedroom candle with a hand that trembled a little, and in her turn went slowly upstairs.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Janey lit her bedroom candle with a hand that trembled a little, and in her turn went slowly upstairs.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Life said, As thou hast carved me, such am I."
United States civil rights leader whose college registration caused riots in traditionally segregated Mississippi (born in 1933)
From this reading GEORGE MEREDITH.
completely unclothed
From this reading "O Life, how naked and how hard when known!
possessive form of “nurse” — one skilled in caring for young children or the sick (usually under the supervision of a physician)
From this reading She could hear the clatter of knives and forks in the dining-room, and Harry's vacant laugh, and Nurse's sharp voice.
a nonmetallic bivalent element that is normally a colorless odorless tasteless nonflammable diatomic gas; constitutes 21 percent of the atmosphere by volume; the most abundant element in the earth's crust
From this reading "O Life, how naked and how hard when known!
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading She could hear the clatter of knives and forks in the dining-room, and Harry's vacant laugh, and Nurse's sharp voice.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading Life said, As thou hast carved me, such am I."
(of something seen or heard) clearly defined
From this reading She could hear the clatter of knives and forks in the dining-room, and Harry's vacant laugh, and Nurse's sharp voice.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She could hear the clatter of knives and forks in the dining-room, and Harry's vacant laugh, and Nurse's sharp voice.
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading Janey lit her bedroom candle with a hand that trembled a little, and in her turn went slowly upstairs.
of the kind already mentioned
From this reading Life said, As thou hast carved me, such am I."
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Janey lit her bedroom candle with a hand that trembled a little, and in her turn went slowly upstairs.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading She could hear the clatter of knives and forks in the dining-room, and Harry's vacant laugh, and Nurse's sharp voice.
an old word for “you”, as the subject, speaking to one person
From this reading Life said, As thou hast carved me, such am I."
past form of “tremble” — move or jerk quickly and involuntarily up and down or sideways
From this reading Janey lit her bedroom candle with a hand that trembled a little, and in her turn went slowly upstairs.
change orientation or direction, also in the abstract sense
From this reading Janey lit her bedroom candle with a hand that trembled a little, and in her turn went slowly upstairs.
on a floor above
From this reading Janey lit her bedroom candle with a hand that trembled a little, and in her turn went slowly upstairs.
void of intelligence or thought
From this reading She could hear the clatter of knives and forks in the dining-room, and Harry's vacant laugh, and Nurse's sharp voice.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading She could hear the clatter of knives and forks in the dining-room, and Harry's vacant laugh, and Nurse's sharp voice.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading Janey lit her bedroom candle with a hand that trembled a little, and in her turn went slowly upstairs.
at the time that
From this reading "O Life, how naked and how hard when known!
in the company of; together with
From this reading Janey lit her bedroom candle with a hand that trembled a little, and in her turn went slowly upstairs.
Chapter 13 of Notwithstanding by Mary Cholmondeley holds 144 sentences, grouped into 29 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 13 holds 144 sentences of Notwithstanding, unabridged, divided into 29 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 13 of Notwithstanding by Mary Cholmondeley exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 144 sentences, grouped into 29 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 29 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 29 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 13 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
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Yes. All 5817 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #37781 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #37781, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 484 minutes of reading across 1164 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Notwithstanding section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 39 chapters of Notwithstanding to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in Notwithstanding, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
